Yang Gensi, the Special-class Combat Hero of the Chinese People’s Volunteers (CPV), was born in 1922 in Taixing, Jiangsu Province. Joining the New Fourth Army in 1944, Yang used to serve as commander of the squad, platoon and company and had the reputation of “Master of explosives”.
In October 1950, Yang Gensi went to fight in Korea as a company commander of the CPV. In November that year, the CPV launched the second campaign of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea in which Chinese troops split and besieged the US troops in segments at South Hamgyong, Yang Gensi. Yang was ordered to take a platoon to guard a hill in the southeast of the No.1071 highland outside Hagaru-ri and cut off US troops’ retreat route to the south.
On November 29, the No.1 Division of US Army launched attack at the hill. Most fortifications on the hill were destroyed by the US shells. Yang and his platoon rush-repaired the fortifications against time and fended off the first round of attack. Then the US side put together two companies for a new round of attack under the cover of eight tanks, and encountered deadly resistance from Yang and his men. In the middle of the battle, a new group of American troops rushed to the hill top. Yang led the 7th and 9th squads to resist them head-on and asked the 8th squad to hit the enemies from the back, thus defeating the attack again. Under such circumstances, American troops carried out fierce bombing of the hill with air and ground firing before launching a huge-crowd charge.
Yang Gensi and his platoon, in the heroic spirit of guarding the position regardless of life or death, repelled eight waves of US offensives. Seeing that more than 40 American soldiers had climbed up to the hill top when only he and two injured soldiers were still holding the position, Yang grabbed the last blasting charge, pulled the fuse and plunged into the enemies, dying a heroic death along with them.
In 1952, the leading authority of the Chinese People’s Volunteers granted Yang Gensi the Special-Class Merit Citation posthumously and honored him as Special-Class Combat Hero and his company was named as the “Yang Gensi Company”. On June 25, 1953, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea conferred to Yang the title of “Hero of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” as well as the Gold-Star medal and the First-Class Medal of National Flag.
